Manufacture of boots



JAMES SGRIMGEOUR, OF BROOKLYN, NEVY YORK.

MANUFACTURE 0F BOOTS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,524, dated June 9, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES Scnnronoun, of the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and vState of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the` Manufacture of Boots; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention is an improvement upon the method patented by Chilcott and' Snell, on Septr. 13th, 1853, and relates to the cutting out or otherwise forming of a pieceV of leather or of cloth or other material that cannot be stretched as by crimping, to a certain novel shape which admits of its being folded, without crimping, into the required form for the up-per of a boot, and which enables those parts which re quire to be joined, or as it is technically termed closed, to be brought together with a lap, so that the closing operation can beperformed in a sewing machine.

Figure l in the drawing exhibits theshape of the piece of leather or other material before it is folded. Fig. 2 is a View of one side of the upper produced by the folding of the said piece; and Fig. 3 is a view of the opposite side of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

As the form of the piece cannot well be mathematically7 defined I will proceed at once by the aid of the drawing to describe it with reference to the particular parts of the boot its various parts are intended to form.

The part A B C, forms the whole of the leg of the boot and also the lining of the counter and of the sides of the foot, and a tongue to unite the'foot with the leg above the instep; and the part D D*, forms the foot of the boot. The part A B C, being folded in straight lines a b, and c (l, parallel or nearly so with its sides according to the degree of taper required for the leg, may be considered as being divided into three parts A, B and C, 'of which the part C, nearest to the foot, has the same form as would be produced by dividing the center part B, by a line drawn longitudinally through the center thereof; and the part A"7 farthest from the foot, has the saine forni as C, except that it is so much wider that when the piece is folded `in the lines a b,

appearance when in wear.

and c d, its outer edge e f, willv lap under the outer edge g 71 of the part A, sufficiently to enable the two parts to be united by stitching in a sewing machine. The part D, standing at the side of the edge e f, has a small piece cut. from between it and the edge c, f, to give it the proper form to make the tongue z', which unites with'the front of the'leg, and the counter j. The part A B C, is cut to the required size for the leg by the s ame rules that are generally employed to cut the leg of a boot made in the old or usual way, and the part D Di, by the rules that are employed to cut the foot of such a. boot, as will be easily and at once understood by the trade.

To form the boot from the piece cut or otherwise formed as above described and represented in Fig. l, the part A is first folded on the part B in the line a b, and the part D, D*, is folded in a central line 7c Z, to bring the outer portion D* thereof over the inner portion D, on the same side of the material as A, folds over B; and a fold is then made in the line c d, to bring the part C, over B, on the same side of the material, and the narrow portion at the upper end of D, is brought around the fold a with the line 7c Z, in position to form a cons tinuation of a Z). This is fully illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. The upper extremity m n, of the part D*, then forms a continuation of the line e f, to the bottom of the boot. A greater or less angle may be given to the instep by bringing the tongue z', higher up or lower down the leg. The boot thus formed has a round seam made all around below the ankle, where the line f 7c m, of the piece D D*, laps over the part A B C, and a straight seam up the center of one side only of the leg where the edges e f, and m n, lap over the edge g h, both of which are lapping or foXed, the former of which seams is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and the latter in Fig. 3, in both of which figures the Stitching of the seams is indicated by red dotted lines. To cut a pair of boots on this plan the piece for one requires to be exactly the reverse of that cut from the other, to make the straight seam in both boots up either the inside or outside, and thus give them a corresponding It is a mere matter of taste whether the straight seam be brought to the inner or outer side of the boot. The form of this piece bears at first sight some resemblance to the form de scribedin'the patent of J. Chilcott and It. Snell dated September 13th, 1853, but yet it differs materially in the principle of its con-Y struction, as that form requires a seam up the front of the leg, while in this the seam is made up the side, and the foot piece in that form is cut adjoining a part which comes in front of the leg, while the foot piece in this is formed of a part nearer to the back than the front of the leg part. That form requires in most cases a slit at the bottom of the fold at the back ofl the leg to make the foot fit the heel,.while in this form no slit is ever necessary, as by cutting less stock away between the line ,Z0 m, of the foot part and the line e f, of the leg part, a fullness is produced in that part of the material at the bottom of the line ef, when the boot is folded with the foot piece at theproper angle to the leg, which fullness can be thrown into the heel when the boot is blocked. This form enables the boot to be cut with a greater economy of stock as the lower margin of the foot piece comes more nearly in a straight line with the lower margin of the leg piece of which it is a continuation.

If it be desired to make the leg and foot of the boot of different materials, the leg piece A B C, and foot piece D, must be cut separately and when united by a seam forming a continuation of the line c f, the two pieces united to one piece produce the same form as shown in Fig. l, that can'be folded in the same manner.

A well known method requires a slit at the heel of the boot and the insertion of a spreading tongue. Nothing of the kind is required in my plan, and thus I save stock' and labor. The method above alluded to requires a seam on the front of the'leg, which injures the appearance of the boot; and as the seam extends down to the joint of the upper leather with the leg, the seam rests upon the instep of the foot of the wearer, and is liable to produce soreness. thereat. A great strain also comes on the seam at this point, which renders it liable to' break or crack open. Besides this the existence of the seam in front, at the juncltion of the upper leatherv and the boot leg,

prevents a graceful curve or rounding of the instep. The upper leather and the boot leg must join at a sharp angle, and a clumsy appearance is thus produced. This is not the case with my improvement, as the propel.' degree of curve can be given, and the boot when finished bears a close resemblance to the most graceful of any crimped boots. There can be no breaking open of joints in front, and no pressure of seams upon the instep of the wearer; for there is an entire absence of the seam at the instep in my improvement.

Under the method before mentioned, the upper leather cannot be cut with a tongue as in my improvement; and hence my plan is superior in regard to elegance of finish. The tongue which my method allows, besides giving a modern and elegant appearance, also serves to strengthen the boot at the instep, prevents cracking, &c. Under the above mentioned plan, the boot is the weakest and the roughest to the foot at the instep, which 'is the very spot where it should be the smoothest and strongest. Under my plan, the requisites of smoothness and strength `at theA instep are fully secured.

I disclaim any form substantially like that described in the patent of Chilcott and Snell before referred to; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isf

The cutting out or otherwise forming a piece of leather or other material to the shape substantially as herein described and represented in Fig. 1, and the folding of the same as described and illustrated in Figs. 2 and 8 to produce the upper of a boot, as herein fully set'forth.

JAMES SGRIMGEOUR. Witnesses:

HENRY T. BROWN, W. TUscH. 

